Children's Home run by Tulip Care One Limited t/as TulipCare in Kent

Inspection report children‟s home: SC361090 1 SC361090 Registered provider: Tulip Care One Limited t/as TulipCare

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is owned and run by a private organisation. It provides care and accommodation for up to five children.

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Information about this children’s home

The home has an experienced registered manager, who is currently on maternity leave. In the interim period, the deputy manager is acting up with the support of the responsible individual.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 1, 2 and 10 August 2018.

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Information about this children’s home

The inspection was assessed to be incomplete after the initial two days due to information provided in the Annex A after the inspector completed the on-site inspection. It was decided that an extra visit would be made to the home to explore this new line of enquiry.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

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good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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good

The children‟s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children‟s home: SC361090 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

09/08/2017 Full Good 09/03/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 29/11/2016 Full Good 18/03/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report children‟s home: SC361090 3

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person(s) must take to meet the Care Standards Act 2000, Children‟s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the „Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟. The registered person(s) must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children‟s home that—

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Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and promotes their welfare.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13(2)(f))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, ensure that individual plans and risk assessments are clear and provide staff with clear guidance on how to support the child concerned. 28/09/2018

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Requirement Due date

No measure of control or discipline which is excessive, unreasonable or contrary to paragraph (2) may be used in relation to any child. The following measures may not be used to discipline any child: imposing a financial penalty, other than a requirement for the payment of a reasonable sum (which may be by instalments) by way of reparation. (Regulation 19(1)(2)(f)) 28/09/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person may only employ an individual to work at the children‟s home; or if an individual is employed by a person other than the registered person to work at the home in a position in which the individual may have regular contact with children, allow that individual to work at the home, if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3). The requirements are that the individual has the appropriate experience, qualification and skills for the work that the 28/09/2018 Inspection report children‟s home: SC361090 4 individual is to perform. For the purposes of paragraph (3)(b), an individual who works in the home in a care role has the appropriate qualification if, by the relevant date, the individual has attained the Level 3 Diploma for Residential Childcare (England) (“the Level 3 Diploma”); or a qualification which the registered person considers to be equivalent to the Level 3 Diploma. The relevant date is in the case of an individual who

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Requirement Due date

starts working in a care role in a home after 1st April 2014, the date which falls 2 years after the date on which the individual started working in a care role in a home. (Regulation 32(3)(b)(4)(a)(b)(5)(a))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must prepare and implement a policy (“the behaviour management policy”) which sets out how appropriate behaviour is to be promoted in the children‟s home; and the measures of control, discipline and restraint which may be used in relation to children in the home. The registered person must keep the behaviour management policy under review and, where appropriate, revise it. (Regulation 35(1)(a)(b)(2)) In particular, ensure that the home‟s policy is clear on what is deemed as a restraint. 28/09/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40(4)(b)) 28/09/2018

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Recommendations

 A child‟s bedroom should not generally be entered without their permission, though it may be necessary to establish routines to allow for rooms to be cleaned regularly. Usually, rooms should only be searched if the child has been informed or asked for their permission. Immediate searching may be necessary where there are reasonable grounds for believing that there is a risk to the child‟s or another person‟s safety or well-being („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 17, paragraph 3.20). In particular, review the use of room searches to ensure that they are not completed as a matter of routine, but when there is a specific need.  Children should be supported to express themselves as individuals and should be given an appropriate degree of freedom and choice in relation to day to day arrangements for their care, depending on their individual needs and the setting

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Recommendations

in which they are cared for. This is in relation to both activities and personal Inspection report children‟s home: SC361090 5 items such as clothing, technology and leisure items. Children‟s reasonable preferences in relation to day to day arrangements should be met with consideration given to safeguarding, particularly in relation to the use of technology. Where a child‟s preferences are unreasonable or cannot be met for safeguarding reasons, staff should discuss this with the child to help them understand why („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 17, paragraph 3.21). Specifically, include young people‟s culture and identity in their plans, beyond the ethnicity and religion.  As set out in regulations 31−33, the registered person is responsible for maintaining good employment practice. They must ensure that recruitment, supervision and performance management of staff safeguard children and

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Recommendations

minimise potential risks to them („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 61, paragraph 13.1). Particularly, ensure that agency staff profiles are consistently sought prior to these staff being able to work in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make good progress through their positive relationships with staff. Observations showed a warm and caring approach towards children, which was reciprocated in their interactions with staff. Staff were seen to be physically and emotionally supportive of children‟s needs, brushing their hair, chatting about their achievements and gently challenging and explaining why certain comments or actions are not acceptable.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children‟s views are central to the care in the home. They share their ideas for their goals and are encouraged to actively engage in their statutory reviews. They have the chance to make decisions about day-to-day matters, such as meal and activity choices. Mealtimes replicate those in a family home, and children utilise this time to share their views and ideas and chat with staff and each other. Observations showed this to be a warm and reflective time when issues within the group were discussed in a sensitive manner without the formality of a planned meeting.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children attend school as programmed, and their education is held in high regard by staff. The day is arranged in order to ensure that children are ready for learning, and, when they are struggling, staff continually support them to get up and be ready for school. Staff recognise barriers to learning and work closely with education professionals to help children engage more effectively. In addition to formal education, children engage in a range of emotionally and socially stimulating activities. They are supported to consider their physical and emotional well-being. Children who smoke are regularly offered cessation options and reminded of the risks of smoking. Children also have links with various emotional well-being and mental health workers to support their individual assessed needs. Inspection report children‟s home: SC361090 6

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Children‟s actions and demeanour show that they feel comfortable in their home and with staff. They were seen approaching staff to talk about issues and concerns and when they were anxious. A recent serious incident of assault between children in the home has been reviewed and is the cause of much evaluation. Children and staff have met to explore how everyone has been affected by the incident and to hear the victim‟s and perpetrators‟ views. Records of this meeting show how emotionally charged the meeting was for children and staff. While the circumstances are being investigated, staff have been suspended, which demonstrates how seriously the matter is being taken.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Children go missing from care on occasion. Records and discussion with staff showed the robust response taken in these circumstances. This includes following the children for several hours, encouraging them to return and expressing their concern for them. There have been serious issues when children have disclosed that they have been exploited while missing, and appropriate action was taken, including contacting the police and supporting children to make statements, while working on increasing their personal safety. Key work sessions are used to explore issues for children but are not necessarily planned or following a programme that links to their care plans or identified risks.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Staff have a good understanding of behaviour and recognise that it is expressing an emotion or feeling. Sanctions are mostly restorative, but on occasion financial sanctions have been used inappropriately for behaviour rather than damage, and this appears not to have been challenged by managers. Children whose behaviour means that they are at risk is carefully monitored through chronologies to determine any trends or patterns. Issues such as self-injury are discussed with therapists and in team consultation with the clinical lead, which helps staff to develop their practice and support children better. The use of room searches to monitor items that could be used for self-injury is arbitrary and not based on a specific concern. Restraint is used to prevent children from harming themselves or others, and records are comprehensive and give a full account of why the hold was necessary. However, the policy is not clear about how and where to record

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

occasions when children have been escorted.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The home is currently being effectively managed by the deputy manager while the registered manager is on maternity leave. The registered manager was available during the inspection and has been meeting regularly with the responsible individual.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Staff said that they are well supported by managers in the home and that they can contact them at any time. Staff said that they find supervision a useful reflective space, but they can also talk to managers outside this time. They have sufficient training to meet the children‟s needs, and particularly find sessions with the clinical psychologist useful in understanding children‟s needs and what their behaviours may be communicating. There has been some difficulty in staff accessing a level 3 qualification due to the company that provides training ceasing to trade. At least two members of staff who are accessing training through another provider have not completed their Inspection report children‟s home: SC361090 7 qualifications in the timeframe set out in regulation.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The management team regularly reviews the quality of care provided in the home and seeks to improve experiences for children. Managers effectively utilise reports by the independent visitor and evaluate their own service in line with regulation 45. The development plan is clear and identifies what has been completed and what requires further development. Managers have a good understanding of children‟s progress and maintain good working relationships with partner agencies. In-house plans and risk assessments are comprehensive but at times become confusing due to the volume of information contained in them. Additionally, children‟s plans contain little detail of culture and identity beyond their ethnicity and religion.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The home liaises well with social workers, informing them of children‟s progress in addition to incidents and concerns. It was noted that Ofsted has not been informed of serious incidents when the police or other emergency services have been called to the home to support staff during incidents of self-injury or behaviours which staff felt they could not safely manage. Managers recognise when a child may not be progressing as well as they could and link with partner agencies to source a more suitable placement. Recently, managers have actively challenged health professionals regarding a placement for which they have consistently reported they can no longer meet the child‟s needs, but little action has been taken to acknowledge this. Agency staff are currently being used to support a child who is living away from the home while a more suitable placement is found. It is notable that the managers have sought to manage this difficulty as smoothly

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

as they could. There is information regarding the agency staff employment safety checks, but these are not concise and not automatically sent to the home prior to a new member of staff coming to the home.

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people. Inspectors considered the quality of work and the differences made to the lives of children and young people. They watched how professional staff work with children and young people and each other and discussed the effectiveness of help and care provided. Wherever possible, they talked to children and young people and their families. In addition, the inspectors have tried to understand what the children‟s home knows about how well it is performing, how well it is doing and what difference it is making for the children and young people whom it is trying to help, protect and look after.

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Information about this inspection

Using the „Social care common inspection framework‟, this inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000 to assess the effectiveness of the service, how it meets the core functions of the service as set out in legislation, and to consider how well it complies with the Children‟s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the „Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟.

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Children’s home details

Inspection report children‟s home: SC361090 8 Unique reference number: SC361090

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Tulip Care One Limited t/as TulipCare

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 19−20, Bourne Court, Southend Road, Woodford Green, Essex IG8 8HD

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Inspectors

Jennie Christopher, social care inspector Inspection report children‟s home: SC361090 9 achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children‟s social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children‟s services, and inspects services for children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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